By Jesse Russell

The State of Federal Education funding is not strong. The was the message from education leaders on Wednesday who participated in the first annual "State of Federal Education Funding address. The address was organized by the Committee for Education Funding, a nonpartisan organization that seeks to achieve adequate funding for the nation's education system. The federal appropriations bill for 2006 cut total education spending for the first time in ten years and deeper cuts are expected. Ellen Estomin works in the Pittsburgh Public School system and says faculty works hard to provide a decent education for students:

By Jesse Russell

In a report released by the Government Accountability Office, the Bush administration has been implicated in disseminating "covert propaganda" in violation of a United States statutory ban. The report is the result of an investigation into contracts between commentator Armstrong Williams and the education department where Williams was paid to write newspaper columns and make television appearances promoting the No Child Left Behind Act. Also, the auditors called illegal the administrations use of government funds to hire a public relations firm for the purpose of analyzing news articles for the message "The Bush administration or the GOP is committed to education." The report says there is "no use for such information except for partisan political purposes." The Accountability Office report comes with no penalty, but federal law mandates that the violations be reported to Congress.

The California Teachers Association has dug deep to battle Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger's special election initiatives. The association
has pledge $21 million to campaign committees in what is considered
the state's largest single day campaign contribution. Three
initiatives will be on the ballot, all of which the association says
would hurt teachers and cut education funding.

By Doug Cunningham

The National Education Association has 2.7 million members nationwide and is doing battle with the federal government in the courts over No Child Left behind. Reg Weaver, President of the NEA, says the government has recently moved to dismiss the NEA's lawsuit alleging that No Child Left Behind isn't fully funded and therefore is illegal.

[Reg Weaver 1] : "It's unfortunate that they chose to dismiss as opposed to doing what we think needs to be done. And that is to fix it and to fund it such that the kids will be able to have a better chance of being successful.
Weaver says the NEA is committed to quality public education and needs public support on the No Child Left Behind law.

By Jesse Russell

The American Federation of Teachers announced record growth since June of last year. Nearly 40,000 new members have joined the union, giving it a membership of 1,361,000. In a press release, AFT President Edward J. McElroy attributes the success to workers wanting union representation. In order to maintain current levels, the union needs to sign up 3,000 workers per week because of retirements, resignations and other factors. New York State added more than 17,000 members. The public employees division suffered a loss due to Indiana governor Mitch Daniels eliminating workers

Early childhood education should be seen as an important part of the economy. That's one of the findings of a report released this week by the MIT Workplace Center and the Family Initiative of Legal Momentum. Ann Bookman is executive director for the center:

[Bookman]: We need to put on a new pair of glasses when we look at early care and education. We used to call it childcare, we don't call it that anymore. We need one lens to help us see it as part of our educational system and another lens to see it as a key part of developing and sustaining a vibrant economy.

The report found that investment in early education is a payoff for communities. Leslie Calman, director of New York-based Legal Momentum says the report children who enter quality early education are more likely to finish school and contribute positively to society.

The "No Child Left Behind" Act is in urgent need of repair. That's the finding of a new report by the bipatisan National Conference of State Legislators. The National Education Association has praised the report saying it reinforces the concerns of teachers, parents and others in the education field aross the country. Daniel Kaufman is a spokesperson for the NEA.

[Kaufman1]: All in all the report was a sweeping indictment of the problems with the law and the need to fix them soon. It should be a wake up call to the Bush administration and Congress that this is not a partisan issue, this is an issue about how to make this law work at a local level and make sure that teachers and parents and other who work with children at the local level can get what they need to actually help each individual child suceed to the best of their abilities.

How do charter schools, promoted in the president’s No Child Left Behind Act, stack up against public schools? Not so well. Data compiled by the American Federation of Teachers shows that fourth graders at charter schools lag six months behind students in public schools in reading and math. In addition, there are major discrepancies when it comes to race, with children of varying ethnic backgrounds performing worse in charter schools than their counterparts in urban public schools. In the past, charter schools were championed as an alternative to poorly performing public schools. The No Child Left Behind Act mandates that public schools that chronically perform poorly are to be restructured as charter schools. The act does not say what happens when a charter school chronically performs poorly.